As Nike had revealed one of its models of self-lacing shoes earlier, now Puma also has entered the race of innovation and announced its latest invention it the form of its own self-lacing shoes called “Fi” for “Fit Intelligence,”. The wearer can adjust the shoe tightness by simply swiping up or down over the module located on the top. A simple cable system is connected to this module which allows the user to control it via a smartphone app, in turn, allowing the user to adjust the tightness of the shoe without attempting the conventional practice of tying down the shoelaces.
Puma’s self-lacing sneaker learns the shape of your foot and automatically adjusts to provide you a custom fit by utilizing smart sensing technology. Self-lacing shoes make it easier for people with bending problems to attain the required shoe tightness by just a quick swipe without getting into the hassle of bending over to tie the shoelaces. The swipe activates a micromotor that pulls a pair of blue cables that run through the sneaker which operate the tightening mechanism.
In addition to the smartphone app, one can also adjust the shoe through Apple Watch which makes it more useful and time efficient because people find it convenient to control the shoe operation by just swiping the watch. Most of the athletes will find this invention very useful as they can achieve the required shoe fit automatically depending upon the changing needs. Unlike Nike’s self-lacing shoes, the Fi doesn’t measure performance in terms of distance covered or calories burnt which is a bit of a let off.
Fi can be charged through a Qi wireless charging pad and a single charge gives its enough juice to last for 5 days. In case it runs out of charge then you can simply replace the battery. This is not the first time when Puma tried its hand at self-lacing technology. Puma introduced the very first wireless shoe model back in 2016 which was called Auto Disc.
Puma has always adopted a practice of consumer participation and taking feedback from users on the usability and wearability to get to know the loopholes and the power point which can help Puma in a way to introduce smarter and reliable products. Anyone can take part in testing ‘Fit Intelligent’ and giving feedback to Puma. ‘Fi’ will be launched at a retail price of $330 in 2020, which is $20 cheaper than Nike’s HyperAdapt BBs. For now, we’ll just have to wait before we can actually try on Puma’s elusive self-lacing shoes.
All Images: © Puma
h/t: Digital Trends